Hiroshima

I'm watching the TV now and listening to the speeches made by the Japanese. They all stress on Japan being the "victim". They urge the rest of the world to ban nuclear weapons etc..

But they fail to acknowledge one thing: Its their fault.

(Its also not nuclear weapons either - the Japanese killed millions of Chinese people without the aid of a nuke - but with the gun and bayonet.)

Its Japan's fault that it invaded China and began an utterly barbaric conquest and subjugation of China (not to mention Taiwan and Korea).

Its Japan's fault that when the US, in response, stopped its export of oil and steel to Japan - the Japanese decided to embark on war rather than negotiation.

Its Japan's fault that millions of South East Asians were killed as a direct result of their barbaric war. Even after they surrendered, the Japanese killed more people.

In Nanking, after the Japanese captured it, they soldiers raped and murdered over 100,000 women and children who had surrendered.

In Singapore alone, AFTER ITS SURRENDER, the Japanese rounded up over 50,000 civilians  - men, women, and children (mostly Chinese, educated) and killed them in cold-blood.

The Japanese enslaved thousands of Asians - from Burma and Malaya - to work on their railways and mining projects- working them to death.

The Japanese enslaved thousands of Asian womens to work as sex slaves for their bloody military.

The Japanese confiscated food from thousands of Asians - realizing that it would result in their death through starvation.

At any stage of the war - it was up to the Japanese to say enough is enough- we give up. But they wanted to keep on fighting to the bitter end.

Over 100,000 people were dying every month in 1945 as the war progressed onwards.

The Japanese ought to remember this day as the day as a Day of National Shame - for themselves.

They should remember this day as the Day of Disaster that they brought it upon themselves.

They should remember this day as the day where, despite overwhelming odds, their war leaders stubbornly decided not to surrender but to keep on fighting- in the vain hope that the US A-bomb was a fluke.

Their people were starving to death. Their cities were reduced to ash. Their proud navy was sunk. Their army was reduced to handing out bamboo spears to women and children. Their air force was coercing young teenagers to fly one way suicide missions and yet they kept on fighting, and causing the further deaths of uncountable numbers of innocent lives.

Meanwhile, as their leaders urged their people onwards to the final armaggedon, their army forces were still oppressing - starving, raping, torturing, working to death, killing thousands of foreign civilians in conquered lands, China, Burma, Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia, the Pacific Islands. Everyday innocent civilians were dying because the Japanese refused to surrender.

When the US dropped those two a-bombs- it gave the (pro-peace) Japanese leaders the face- saving excuse to push for surrender.

The recent debate about how the Japanese wanted to surrender prior to the A-bomb is just pure rubbish. How hard is it to run up a white flag at any point of their losing war and say, "@#$ it, we're lost!!! We @#$ing surrender!!!"

The Japanese leaders were adament that any talk of surrender would not involve any of them being implicated in war crimes, occupation, or any talk of withdrawal from their occupied territories in China, Korea, or Taiwan. ( Just great!! Call it a draw. Cue the Black Knight.

Hmm... and maintain the status quo and allow them to rebuild their armed forces, and start the next war? I don't think so.)

When the Emperor annouced the surrender- there was also a palace coup - some of the Japanese leaders wanted to stop him making the announcement - they wanted to carry on fighting against the odds!! How "romantic" !!!

Ironically, the Japanese feared that the Americans would do to them what they had done to the other people they had conquered. Enslave, Rape, Torture, Starve.

The Japanese need to do a lot of soul searching about Hiroshima and Nagasaki - but they will never find the answer if they continue to defend themselves by claiming "victim status".